At its October 3 meeting, the Metro Vancouver Board approved a revised approach to deliver the Iona Island Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade Projects. The updated plan will prioritize achieving secondary treatment as quickly as possible by rehabilitating the existing plant and deferring some non-essential components to future phases. This approach is expected to deliver the majority of secondary treatment by 2039 at an estimated cost of $6 billion, compared to the original $9.9 billion estimate and 2040 completion timeline.  

As part of the decision, the Board also directed staff to request that the Province align provincial wastewater effluent regulations with federal requirements to support the revised delivery plan. 

Additional information can be found in the full staff report.